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LADCR:
Legal, Local Cannabis
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Introduction
WeAreGiants partnered with the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation to develop and deliver its first public information campaign encouraging adults to shop at licensed cannabis retailers.
“From the Neighborhood, For the Neighborhood” connected that choice to personal health, local businesses, and the communities they serve. Our work spanned audience research, campaign strategy and messaging, a bilingual visual identity, creative production, media planning and buying, partner coordination, and campaign evaluation.
The campaign ran from July through September 2024, prioritizing South LA and Eastside LA while reaching audiences across the city.
WeAreGiants partnered with the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation to develop and deliver its first public information campaign encouraging adults to shop at licensed cannabis retailers.
“From the Neighborhood, For the Neighborhood” connected that choice to personal health, local businesses, and the communities they serve. Our work spanned audience research, campaign strategy and messaging, a bilingual visual identity, creative production, media planning and buying, partner coordination, and campaign evaluation.
The campaign ran from July through September 2024, prioritizing South LA and Eastside LA while reaching audiences across the city.
The challenge
Price, convenience, quality, and trust all shaped where people bought cannabis. Our research found that adults recognized the safety benefits of shopping at licensed retailers, but those benefits did not always outweigh lower prices or familiar purchasing habits.
LADCR needed a message that gave people a compelling reason to choose licensed businesses and a straightforward way to find them. Cannabis advertising restrictions added another challenge, affecting both what the campaign could show and where it could appear.
Price, convenience, quality, and trust all shaped where people bought cannabis. Our research found that adults recognized the safety benefits of shopping at licensed retailers, but those benefits did not always outweigh lower prices or familiar purchasing habits.
LADCR needed a message that gave people a compelling reason to choose licensed businesses and a straightforward way to find them. Cannabis advertising restrictions added another challenge, affecting both what the campaign could show and where it could appear.
Research and strategy
We began with four focus groups involving 36 regular cannabis users in South LA and Eastside LA, alongside interviews with LADCR leadership, staff, and licensed retailers. A review of public health research and other public-sector campaigns added context to what we heard.
Participants valued safety and quality, but also expressed concerns about price and trust in the licensed market. They valued supporting neighborhood businesses, particularly small, minority-owned, and female-owned retailers.
These findings informed “From the Neighborhood, For the Neighborhood,” connecting the benefits of shopping licensed with support for the local community. Messages such as “Know Your Source” reinforced the campaign’s call to action: shop licensed, support local businesses, and protect your health.
We began with four focus groups involving 36 regular cannabis users in South LA and Eastside LA, alongside interviews with LADCR leadership, staff, and licensed retailers. A review of public health research and other public-sector campaigns added context to what we heard.
Participants valued safety and quality, but also expressed concerns about price and trust in the licensed market. They valued supporting neighborhood businesses, particularly small, minority-owned, and female-owned retailers.
These findings informed “From the Neighborhood, For the Neighborhood,” connecting the benefits of shopping licensed with support for the local community. Messages such as “Know Your Source” reinforced the campaign’s call to action: shop licensed, support local businesses, and protect your health.
Building the campaign identity
We designed a flexible visual system built around bold typography, bright color, and direct, conversational language. Graphic highlights, icons, and playful details gave the campaign personality while accommodating restrictions on cannabis imagery.
English and Spanish executions shared the same visual language, with layouts adapted for billboards, neighborhood posters, gas-station displays, print, and digital advertising. A campaign toolkit defined the typography, colors, graphic elements, and message structure so the system could extend across formats.
We designed a flexible visual system built around bold typography, bright color, and direct, conversational language. Graphic highlights, icons, and playful details gave the campaign personality while accommodating restrictions on cannabis imagery.
English and Spanish executions shared the same visual language, with layouts adapted for billboards, neighborhood posters, gas-station displays, print, and digital advertising. A campaign toolkit defined the typography, colors, graphic elements, and message structure so the system could extend across formats.
We also developed messaging to address youth prevention within the wider campaign. Working with LADCR, we adapted selected outdoor executions to connect shopping at licensed retailers with keeping cannabis out of underage hands, alongside clear 21+ age labeling. This work complemented LADCR’s separate “Clear Heads, Bright Futures” outreach to young people and parents.
Connecting awareness to action
The campaign needed a useful destination: a straightforward way for people to find licensed cannabis retailers.
We identified an opportunity to connect LADCR’s local campaign with California’s existing Real CA Cannabis retailer map. Working with LADCR, the California Department of Cannabis Control, and its campaign partner Swell, we helped clarify the shared benefit, explore implementation options, and coordinate the conversations needed to bring the map onto LADCR’s website.
The resulting integration gave residents a more accessible way to find licensed retailers, including businesses identified as social equity retailers, and gave the campaign a practical next step.
The campaign needed a useful destination: a straightforward way for people to find licensed cannabis retailers.
We identified an opportunity to connect LADCR’s local campaign with California’s existing Real CA Cannabis retailer map. Working with LADCR, the California Department of Cannabis Control, and its campaign partner Swell, we helped clarify the shared benefit, explore implementation options, and coordinate the conversations needed to bring the map onto LADCR’s website.
The resulting integration gave residents a more accessible way to find licensed retailers, including businesses identified as social equity retailers, and gave the campaign a practical next step.
Reaching people across Los Angeles
We planned and coordinated a 12-week media rollout combining outdoor advertising with print, digital, and social placements. Billboards, neighborhood posters, gas-station displays, wild postings, and mobile billboards brought the campaign into everyday settings, with priority placements in Council Districts 8 and 14.
Advertising in the Los Angeles Times, Google, Reddit, and Meta extended that reach. A collaboration with L.A. TACO brought the message into local storytelling through videos exploring cannabis myths and neighborhood businesses.
Delivery unfolded across three phases. We monitored performance and adjusted the rollout as needed, working through placement restrictions and production requirements across media partners.
We planned and coordinated a 12-week media rollout combining outdoor advertising with print, digital, and social placements. Billboards, neighborhood posters, gas-station displays, wild postings, and mobile billboards brought the campaign into everyday settings, with priority placements in Council Districts 8 and 14.
Advertising in the Los Angeles Times, Google, Reddit, and Meta extended that reach. A collaboration with L.A. TACO brought the message into local storytelling through videos exploring cannabis myths and neighborhood businesses.
Delivery unfolded across three phases. We monitored performance and adjusted the rollout as needed, working through placement restrictions and production requirements across media partners.
Local voices and community outreach
LADCR brought the campaign into community events including the Lotus Festival, CicLAvia, and CicLAmini. WeAreGiants supported that outreach with campaign graphics, materials, and promotional designs that staff could use in conversations with residents.
Campaign tote bags extended the identity beyond advertising, while educational materials and demonstrations of the retailer map gave people ways to learn more. These applications connected the campaign’s public message with LADCR’s direct community engagement.
LADCR brought the campaign into community events including the Lotus Festival, CicLAvia, and CicLAmini. WeAreGiants supported that outreach with campaign graphics, materials, and promotional designs that staff could use in conversations with residents.
Campaign tote bags extended the identity beyond advertising, while educational materials and demonstrations of the retailer map gave people ways to learn more. These applications connected the campaign’s public message with LADCR’s direct community engagement.
Results
The campaign delivered 101.8 million outdoor advertising impressions, while LADCR’s website recorded more than three times the traffic of the same period the previous year. Two L.A. TACO videos generated more than 137,000 views combined.
We brought together media performance, audience-recall research, and retailer feedback in a final campaign evaluation. Alongside documenting reach and engagement, the evaluation offered recommendations for future campaigns, including broader geographic coverage, stronger retailer participation, and expanded community and youth outreach.
The campaign delivered 101.8 million outdoor advertising impressions, while LADCR’s website recorded more than three times the traffic of the same period the previous year. Two L.A. TACO videos generated more than 137,000 views combined.
We brought together media performance, audience-recall research, and retailer feedback in a final campaign evaluation. Alongside documenting reach and engagement, the evaluation offered recommendations for future campaigns, including broader geographic coverage, stronger retailer participation, and expanded community and youth outreach.
Source: October 2024 campaign evaluation. Outdoor impressions cover
July 8–October 10, 2024, including bonus placements after the campaign
ended September 30. Website traffic compares the 12-week campaign
with the same period in 2023.
From listening to residents to coordinating media and connecting agency partners, WeAreGiants helped LADCR carry its first public information campaign from research through delivery and evaluation. The work brought a neighborhood-centered message into streets, screens, and community events, with a practical resource to help adults find licensed retailers.